Rocket Report: A good week for Blue Origin; Italy wants its own launch capability

NASA faucets Falcon Heavy for an additional massive launch. Somewhat greater than a month after SpaceX launched NASA’s flagship Europa Clipper mission on a Falcon Heavy rocket, the area company introduced its subsequent massive interplanetary probe will even launch on a Falcon Heavy, Ars reports. What’s extra, the Dragonfly mission the Falcon Heavy will launch in 2028 is powered by a plutonium energy supply. This would be the first time SpaceX launches a rocket with nuclear supplies onboard, requiring an extra layer of security certification by NASA. The company’s most up-to-date nuclear-powered spacecraft have all launched on United Launch Alliance Atlas V rockets, that are nearing retirement.

The small print … Dragonfly is likely one of the most enjoyable robotic missions NASA has ever developed. The mission is to ship an automatic rotorcraft to discover Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, the place Dragonfly will soar by a soupy ambiance searching for natural molecules, the constructing blocks of life. It is a hefty car, concerning the dimension of a compact automobile, and far bigger than NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter. The launch interval opens July 5, 2028, to permit Dragonfly to achieve Titan in 2034. NASA is paying SpaceX $256.6 million to launch the mission on a Falcon Heavy. (submitted by Ken the Bin)

New Glenn is again on the pad. Blue Origin has raised its totally stacked New Glenn rocket on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral House Power Station forward of pre-launch testing, Florida Today reports. The final time this new 322-foot-tall (98-meter) rocket was seen to the general public eye was in March. Since then, Blue Origin has been making ready the rocket for its inaugural launch, which may but occur earlier than the tip of the yr. Blue Origin has not introduced a goal launch date.

However first, extra exams … Blue Origin erected the New Glenn rocket vertical on the launch pad earlier this yr for floor exams, however that is the primary time a flight-ready (or near it) New Glenn has been noticed on the pad. This time, the primary stage booster has its full complement of seven methane-fueled BE-4 engines. Earlier than the primary flight, Blue Origin plans to test-fire the seven BE-4 engines on the pad and conduct a number of propellant loading exams to train the launch group, the rocket, and floor programs earlier than launch day.